VANCOUVER, British Columbia (GlobeNewswire) — While provincial officials maintain that raw milk is a health hazard, the International Raw Milk Symposium is coming to British Columbia next month and will focus on the benefits of fresh, unprocessed whole milk for human health, especially the health of children.

Cowshare Canada presents the Fourth Annual International Raw Milk Symposium: Milk and our Children’s Future. The event will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2012, 8:30 am – 5:45 pm at the Delta Hotel near the Vancouver, International Airport. It is open to the public.

The Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), a U.S. based nutrition education non-profit is co-sponsoring the event. Sally Fallon Morell, WAPF founder and president, will speak on the superior body building and immune building properties of raw milk baby formula. Morell is widely credited for bringing about a resurgence of interest in farm-fresh milk with her science-based approach to educating parents about good nutrition.

Dr. Robert W. Buckingham, executive director of the School of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan will give the keynote address, Bridging Government Policy and Freedom of Choice, and in another session will explore ways to find common ground on the issue.

Opening remarks for the symposium will be offered by Alice Jongerden, a British Columbia dairy farmer who is currently mounting a constitutional challenge to the Regulation 7 Transitional Health Act. Provincial health officials have used this controversial statute to deny her the right to provide raw milk to her then four hundred herdshare members. Cow boarding, or agistment, is a contractual arrangement in which the owner(s) of dairy animals hire the farmer to care for the animals in order to have legal access to raw milk. A positive outcome to her challenge will be influential for all of Canada.

Other notable speakers at the event include: Professor Dr. Ton Baars, a senior scientist for milk quality and animal welfare for the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Switzerland; Michael Schmidt, the Ontario dairy farmer who won a monumental court decision in 2009, which upheld the rights of citizens to own cowshares; and Ted Beals, MS, MD, a retired pathologist and expert witness on raw milk and food safety in the Alice Jongerden case.

Any donations raised by the event organizers will go to support the raw milk constitutional challenges presently in front of the courts in B.C. and Ontario.

Interested parties may register online or by telephone. Visit RawMilkSymposium.com to register. The cost is $145.00 to attend the Symposium on Saturday (lunch included). An optional dinner banquet ticket is available for $95.00. To register by phone, call 304-724-3006.

Cowshare Canada, is a membership association of raw milk producers and consumers which advocates for the legalization of raw milk in Canada. The Weston A Price Foundation is a U.S. based nutrition education non-profit with thirty-six Canadian chapters.

Just announced! Tickets for VIP Wine and Cheese Reception on Friday evening are now available for $25.00. These can be redeemed toward a full conference package.